Flexible working hours (also referred to as flexitime or FLAZ) are agreements that deviate from so-called normal working hours in terms of the location and duration of working time. They can apply to daily, weekly, monthly, or other arrangements.

If there is a collective agreement, the “start and end of daily working hours, including breaks, and the distribution of working hours across the individual days of the week” are subject to co-determination by the works council in accordance with Section 87 (1) No. 2 of the Works Constitution Act. This means that when organizing working hours, both the interests of the employees and the goals of the company must generally be taken into account. Conflicts of interest between employees and the employer can arise when organizing working hours. On the other hand, depending on the nature and use of working hours, it can be in the interests of both parties. The goal of successful working time consulting should be to create a win-win situation for all involved.

Shift work refers to a work arrangement in which different employees are assigned to the same workplace in succession according to a specific schedule, so that they perform their work at different times within a specific period. In order to create a better work-life balance for employees, flexible shift work is increasingly being introduced in companies, which has been shown to lead to higher employee satisfaction. How such flexible shift work can be structured in detail must be determined through intensive consultation.

The 4-day week is a working time model in which the number of working days in a working week is four. This differs significantly from the 5-day week that is currently still prevalent in Germany, where the number of working days in a working week is five. The current trend across Europe is towards the 4-day week in order to generate a better work-life balance for employees. In February 2022, for example, the Belgian federal government agreed on a fundamental reform of the labor market. Part of this reform is the 4-day week with the same number of working hours. This will give full-time employees the opportunity to work more hours per day and receive an additional day off per week in return.